FAST vs. SMART Goals; Future 50; Costa Rica Summit; Oct 29 Webinar

Dear ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

Extreme communication. You say something 75 times, and then you have to say it another 75 times.
	AMD CEO Lisa Su, on how to execute a turnaround (Fortune)

Webinar Oct 29 – 3 Barriers to Scaling --
I'm going LIVE on October 29 with an online 90-min training.  More below, but first…

Costa Rica Jan 27 – Feb 1 -- $1000 Discount by Oct 31 --
More below, but second…

FAST vs. SMART Goals --
Rarely is there something new in standard business lingo that makes me pivot.  However, this MIT Sloan Management Review article suggested by Adam Grant (yes, the article is a year old) suggests FAST goals are better than SMART. SMART is a standard acronym I reference even in Scaling Up, yet I’ve always found it clunky and repetitive (aren’t Achievable and Realistic almost the same? Specific and Measurable two sides of the same coin?). What Donald Sull and Charles Sull suggest is the acronym FAST:

Frequently Discussed – aligns with our daily, weekly, quarterly meeting rhythm Ambitious – indicative of scaleups and much better than “attainable” Specific – their definition encompasses that the goal is measurable as well Transparent – supports the need for software like Scaling Up Scoreboard

Please take 2-minutes to read the details. I’m switching language in our workshops (and will update my book) – and hope you find this framework more comprehensive and representative of growing firms.

Top 30% Crushing Bottom 30% --
It seems the big are getting even bigger and the small, smaller when it comes to public companies. Lessons for all of us, this HBR article by Vijay Govindarajan, et. al details what smaller companies can do to breakthrough. My favorite paragraph:

How can a manager of a small firm escape the small size trap? We constructed a statistical model to distinguish between companies that remained small versus those that grew much larger. We find that the latter had a substantially higher investment in intangibles, larger debt raised (to finance investment), and fewer annual losses than the perennially small. Escapees had a relatively higher asset base and were younger than those left behind. Notably, investment in physical assets (property, plant, equipment), share buybacks, dividend payments, and acquisitions were negatively associated with the likelihood of escape.

It underpins research Jim Collins shared in Great by Choice (still my favorite of Jim’s books). He found that companies should only pour in capital and technology AFTER they’ve figured out their business model (i.e. one that is profitable!) And we’re big fans of smaller firms using much more debt to then accelerate a successful business model. Please take 2-minutes to read the article and then figure how to be highly profitable (right customer, right product/service) and then pour in the cash/debt!! 

Best Potential for Future Growth – and Crushing the Market --
Fortune’s “Future 50” last year recorded shareholder returns of 13.9%, significantly above the 7.6% for the MSCI world stock index. This week they released their latest list of 50 and making the top 10: Workday, Square, ServiceNow, Contemporary Amperex Technology, Spotify, Atlassian, Xiaomi, Ctrip.com, Salesforce, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

AI and Machine Learning Used to Determine Future 50 --
…and this Fortune article details the factors that go into determining which companies have the brightest future along the dimensions of strategy, technology and investments, people, and structure. And there was a focus on a “path to profitability” test. It’s worth 3 minutes to soak up the details – and contemplate your own company’s future. 

ScaleUp Summit Highlight Reel – Dallas May 5 – 6 is Next --
The equivalent of reading 24 books in two days, the latest ScaleUp Summit is highlighted in this 2-minute video produced by Align5 Films. And the party Tuesday night ran the latest it’s ever run – entertainment courtesy of the Dutch band Policed! The next Summit is May 5 – 6 (I teach a half-day Scaling Up workshop on May 7 – included in registration) in Dallas, TX.  $250 deposit to hold the best seats – based on size of team and timing of registration. See you in Dallas for another great line-up of keynotes representing the latest new biz books.

Webinar Oct 29 – 3 Barriers to Scaling --
I'm going LIVE on October 29 with an online training called 'Overcome the Growth Paradox - 3 Barriers That Keep You from Scaling in 2020'. I’ll share the common mistakes CEOs and business leaders tend to make that prevent them from achieving the growth they’re after. Join me for free here:

Costa Rica Jan 27 – Feb 1 -- $1000 Discount by Oct 31 --
January 2020 Scaling Your Mindset to Scale your Business retreat in Costa Rica is offering a $1,000 early bird discount before October 31st. Led by Scaling Up Certified coaches Juletta Broomfield and Lisa Foulger, here’s a link for more info.

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. Dec 3 - 6, 2019; Jan 14 - 17 (Sold Out); Mar 10 - 13; Jul 21 - 24; Aug 18 - 21, 2020.

ORDER a BOX of 20 SCALING UP BOOKS --
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link. 

EXITING: Looking to sell the business in the next 18 to 36 months? Want to avoid the traps many sellers fall into with today's buyers? You can download the white paper Seven Traps Sophisticated Buyers Deploy Against Unwary Sellers from align5 advisors here

Write Your Own Book --
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you!

Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more.

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING & RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY FOLLOW-UP (CLICK HERE)

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Execute Scaling Up Faster and Drive Accountability -- Drive Execution with Scaling Up Scoreboard, the official software tool for implementing Scaling Up – available online and in a mobile app. The technology behind Scaling Up Scoreboard is proven to help you achieve 3.5x more goals. Learn more at https://scalingup.com/software/ - on your computer, tablet or phone.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.